PresentationNevilleHobson

Communication Management in Virtual Worlds: The Next Challenge Neville Hobson, ABC VP New Marketing, crayon EuroBlog International Research Symposium 2007 Gent, Belgium March 16, 2007

This Is Not About Technology
Rapid, disruptive change all around us, largely driven by technology
Changing attitudes and mindsets influenced by technology
Shifts in trust and increasing demands for transparency facilitated by technology

This Is Not About Technology
Relationships
Productive
Effective
Constructive
Evolving
Engaging
Changing Social Behaviours
Informality
Expressiveness
Collaboration
Co-creation
Sharing
Engagement

Seismic Shifts
Evolution from read-only to read/write and sharing/giving, aka Web 2.0
“ Content creator” and “consumer” are being re-defined
Anyone with a point of view can talk with the world
Text
Audio
Video
Disrupting traditional businesses and models
Changing perceptions of image and reputation
Corporate
Personal
New companies, new ideas, new behaviours appearing to leverage the shifts

The Virtual Landscape

Origins
Such worlds began as the modern, interactive equivalents of Nordic myths and Tolkien fantasies
They allow participants to escape into their imaginations
Designed for deep levels of participation
Businesses now paying attention
Some participating

What is Second Life?
Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents
Opened to the public in 2003
Explosive growth in past 6 months
Today, membership is more than 4.6 million people from around the world
Top 5 countries:
USA: 31.19%
France: 12.73%
Germany: 10.46%
UK: 8.09%
Netherlands: 6.55%
Top 4 European countries = 51% of total membership

What is Second Life?
A self-sustaining economy, where you can buy and sell goods and services and make real money
In November 2006, the first Second Life millionaire emerged, the result of shrewd virtual property dealing

Participating in Second Life

Why?
The desire to create and develop a personal connection with people (customers, employees and others) in a place where there are no real-world manufacturing or service costs and few barriers to what’s possible
It represents a completely new way to interact and communicate with people via the internet
Experimenting and learning how to adapt business, marketing and communication models to a new and emerging marketplace
Breaking new ground, making connections with many of the early adopters among the Second Life community

Collaboration
More than 2,000 IBM employees are members of Second Life
Share ideas and work together on projects
“ Alumni block parties”
Current and former employees get together in ways that would be impractical in the real world
Meeting places and technology showcases
Experimenting in virtual reality business
Set up stores as virtual commerce demonstra-tion projects
Circuit City and Sears

Research and Experimentation
Starwood Hotels constructs a hotel in Second Life
Prototype of new hotel brand: Aloft, to be launched in the real world in 2008
Use Second Life scripting language to make objects come to life
Sliding doors, lighting controls, etc
Create virtual hotel from real architectural plans
Plans refined in response to feedback from architects
Overall plans adapted in response to feedback from Second Life users
Responses actively sought and encouraged

Relationships and Business
American Apparel
Sells virtual clothing
Dell Computer
Sells real computers for delivery to your home or office, in the real world
Toyota
Test drive cars

The Virtual Landscape Today

The Transition is Coming
If this really is the start of something big, those companies that explore the technology now may be in a better position later, much like the first companies to grasp the importance of the web in the early 1990s
The transition is coming, and you may not have as much time as you had with the web to adjust to its impact.
Sandy Kearney Director of the Virtual Worlds program IBM
Source: CIO Insight, March 1, 2007
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PresentationNevilleHobson

by Serge Cornelus on Mar 22, 2007

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